Wondering If You Landed In The Right Place?

If you are here because stress, worry, panic, or fear are limiting your life, if you are here because the past is still haunting your present, or if you are here because the dream of having a child is not the experience you had hoped for ---- you landed in the right place.

From Surviving to Thriving

My name is Iris Hogan, and I’m a therapist in Fremont, Seattle. My mission is to help you move beyond your struggles. I want to help you connect with what matters to you most and makes your life meaningful, to help you enjoy the life you have.

You deserve not simply to survive but to thrive !

In a warm, caring environment, we can look together at the challenges you are facing, you can unburden yourself, and we can find new ways for you to move forward. You can safely experiment with new tools and gain new skills that will help you through those harder days.

If you are ready to get started→

Therapy For Anxiety

"Imagine what life could be like with a measure of relief- more calm and balance? "

Treatment for Anxiety & Stress

You are not alone !

Worry and anxiety affect all of us at times, especially when we are under stress. There are 40 million adults in the United States (Source: National Institute of Mental Health) that suffer from anxiety. This makes anxiety one of the most common, treatable mental health challenges we face.

So if you are suffering from it, you are not alone!

Anxiety makes people feel tense, nervous, on edge and overwhelmed. Emotions like distress, irritability and panic emerge and can color your world dark. Anxiety impacts not just your mind but also you body and your life.

Do you find that you are so caught up in worries and anxiety that you missed important moments with your kids, spouse, friends or colleagues?

Anxiety can suck the joy out of the moment and pull you away from the people and things that matter.

Causes

Your anxiety is caused by a unique combination of factors – like genetic pre-disposition, biology, world views, stress, and lack of coping skills. Sometimes it's clear to us where our anxiety or fear comes from and other times its not. Many of us find that trying to manage anxiety alone is a frustrating, discouraging task.

Coming to therapy means that you can hand off some of the worry over how to find a way through your struggles alone.

Does Anxiety, Worry or Fear Get in Your Way of Living Your Life Fully?

7 Common Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders

Worries keep you awake at night; you have a hard time keeping negative thoughts at bay.

Fortunately, anxiety treatment is really effective. To address your anxiety, we’ll go to the root of your distress. I’m sure you’ve tried fighting your anxiety. It probably didn’t work and left you exhausted. The frustrating thing about anxiety is that the more you try to push it away, the more anxious you feel.

With help, you can learn to develop a different relationship with your painful thoughts and feelings so they have much less negative influence on your life. You can learn how to soften your reactivity and become more connected to your body and mind.

You can learn techniques that allow you to pause and note what is happening in your mind and body. When you step out of the spiral of worry and anxiety you can view your situation with a calmer mind. Gain psychological tools that help you stay in the present moment and connect to what is important to you.

Life gets complicated and hard sometimes, but there are effective tools that can help you get through those times.

Finding Relief and Calm

When anxiety seems overwhelming, it may be hard to believe that therapy can lead to feeling more balanced, calm and peaceful. But it can. Your racing mind can learn to slow down. You can start living your life in the present moment rather than in the worries or fears of your mind. When you don't have to struggle with anxiety, you’re freed up to do whatever is meaningful to you.

Whether you need help working through general anxiety, social anxiety, phobias or obsessive-compulsive disorder, therapy is an effective, empowering way to overcome your challenge

Therapy For Trauma/PTSD

"What if recovery wasn't only possible but likely?"

Trauma Recovery

Any experience which overwhelmed you with horror and left you helpless can leave its painful claw imprinted on your mind, emotions and relationships. (Accidents, an unexpected death, natural disasters, traumatic birth, any type of abuse or assault, war, robbery or mugging..)

Six Ways Trauma Shadows Life

You may have a sense of reliving the traumatic event with unwelcome, scary thoughts, flashbacks or nightmares.

Traumatic memories can be triggered by reminders of what happened to you – reminders, "triggers," could be people, things or situations.

You may find yourself going to great lengths to avoid things that remind you of a traumatic event.

Depression, anxiety, substance abuse, work and relationship problems, and thinking about self-harm often shadow chronic PTSD.

These symptoms can be debilitating, overwhelming and misunderstood!

Does Therapy Actually Work?

Yes! It does.

The good news – you can heal from trauma, or PTSD. I have been privileged to see it happen many times, no matter if the trauma occurred last month or decades ago. I can show you the research and tell you about the success stories. Even so, you still might not feel hope of a personal recovery. Feeling like you can't or won't heal, or that you’re not ready to talk about it, are actually symptoms of unresolved trauma.

Therapy that Heals

The type of trauma therapy I use is calledEMDR. EMDR is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. EMDR therapy has helped many people of all ages recover from many types of psychological stress. Having used EMDR for hundreds of hours over the years, I trust its process because I have seen it work.

Working Together

I know that trauma therapy is hard! Feeling vulnerable and thinking about having to face what happened again might seem impossible and unmanageable. I haven’t gone through the hardships and terror you have survived. But I can listen compassionately, without judging, and understand what happened to you through your eyes. In my training and experience, I’ve walked beside many survivors. I can become a guide to you, teaching you skills and helping you find safety to face and heal from your trauma..

It’s a rare person who feels ready to talk about their trauma. Traumatic reactions are very much about not feeling ready, wanting to stay away from the pain by avoiding talking, or even thinking, about what happened. You may never truly feel ready.

Trauma therapy is challenging and rewarding – I will not tell you otherwise. It really can make a positive difference in your life. With therapy you can move on and get a better quality of life. Many people find that their symptoms go away, or at least decease significantly. No matter what you’re going through, my many years of experience tells me that there really is a reason to hope.

Postpartum Concerns

"What if it didn't have to feel so hard_._._with the right kind of support?"

Support For Pregnant Women and New Moms

Pregnancy, giving birth, and parenting newborns or young children transport most of us into intense new experiences. These may range from being simply sweet and magical to absolutely terrifying and disheartening. Are you an expecting or new mom who feels lost and confused about how to get the parenting experience you hoped and wished for?

Have you felt less happy than before pregnancy or childbirth?

Are you able to laugh and look forward with enjoyment to things?

Do you blame yourself unnecessarily or feel guilty often these days ?

Are you anxious, panicked or worried for no very good reason?

Have you been crying a lot more?

I will never forget how terrified and helpless I felt looking at my then-newborn son lying in the intensive care unit and how many ups and downs came with the first years of his life. Motherhood can be a very isolating experience, even with good family support.

The Right Kind of Help

Research has shown us that Mood and Anxiety Disorders can appear during pregnancy, or days or even months after childbirth, and do not usually resolve without treatment.

Sometimes we need more than our natural support network to negotiate these new challenges.

I’ll support and listen to you as you as you take stock of how your life changed – your losses and gains.

We’ll figure out how to help you through the baby-propelled transitions in your relationships, and roles – work, family and friends.

You don't have to go through this struggle alone. I specialize in guiding women through this confusing and emotionally challenging time. With treatment you really can get better.

Get back to functioning at home and work.Bond with your baby, and get the parenting experience you want while also taking care of yourself and your relationships. I’m here to help.Women Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Next Step

Want to learn more? I would love to hear from you. We can discuss your therapy needs and how I can help.